To Choose A Side
by JenInTheDark
Summary: In this story, follow along with your own inputted character in either the X-Men Mansion or Brotherhood Hideout. With the humans fearing mutants, how will your character stand against the war? In the end, will everyone have to team up before complete destruction? OC based. Doesn't follow movie plot (AU). R&R. Rated T for violence and minor cussing.
1. Prologue: Between the Light and Dark

_To Choose A Side_

Prologue

Between the Light and Dark

"You will feel many different things on your journey. One of those feelings may be joy. Another—anger. I am here to guide you into making the right choices, and use your powers responsibly."

"Don't listen to him; the only thing he speaks the truth of is your feelings. You might take pride in the fact that you are discovering your importance above all other humans, but that anger and betrayal you feel will not go ignored. Rise with us, and we will strike down those who looked at you with disgust in their faces."

"The humans fear what they don't understand, and your new abilities frighten them. That does not mean it will last forever. Take this chance to prove to people that you are still the person you were before your powers, and make them realize this is a good thing."

"They will not accept us: why would they accept us when they can't even accept each other for a different color of skin? Don't waste your time in trying to prove to people of ignorance, instead you can build new relations with those just like you, and won't judge you like homosapians do."

"This is your choice…all we can do is try to persuade you of the right path. The X-Men will be there for you, and help you realize the path to happiness and self-acceptance."

"He is right about one thing. It is your choice. Go with him and die with the rest of the humans; or join us, The Brotherhood, and find the greatness and power within you."

**A/N: Hi there! Let me introduce myself: My name is Jane, but I am more commonly called Jen or Jenny! Welcome to my X-Men Fanfiction "To Choose A Side"! This is my second (if you don't count my smaller side-along) story on the site. For those of you interested in Resident Evil, my other story is called "A Cruel, Undead World", and will be similar to this one in a way that you can create your own characters, send them in and they will be part of the story! Of course, this option is optional, so you can chose to just read along if you wish!**

**Down below is a character template. Please follow it and enter as detailed as possible to make for a more convincing and personal character. Stars or * marks means it is necessary, those without are optional. By filling this out, you are giving me permission to add in any details or change something if I feel it is necessary for the progression of the story. Notes to you: The character must be your own creation and you may only have ONE unless told personally otherwise. Unlike my other story, your character will not be killed off unless you come forward and ask me to. I do this idea because I feel it is an awesome way for people to feel like they connect to the story. If you feel that your character is being completely butchered in the story, there is no need to shout, simply tell me of the changes you would like to make and I will do my best to follow. However, I am not going to back a bunch to fix minor issues, so once published, only under certain circumstances will I take it back for editing. **

*Real Name: Includes First and Last Name

Nicknames:

Codename: You can choose to use this dominantly or your actual name/nickname

*Gender:

*Date of Birth: Format must be MM/DD/YYYY (Current Age: ##). Ages can be between the age of 4-44 (keep in mind two things 1. No one under the age of 14 can become a Brotherhood Member or X-Man and 2. Age does not determine how quickly you become an X-Man or Brotherhood Member

*Place of Birth: Also if you want character to have an accent, include that as well

Known Relatives: Can NOT include any characters from series (Wolverine, Cyclops, ect.). It'd make the story too difficult

*Group Affiliation: X-Men or Brotherhood

*Height and Weight:

*Appearance: Include hair color, eye color, skin color, and style of clothing normally worn

Noticeable Features:

*Personality:

*Powers and Abilities: Please note that any power or ability you have will begin in the story as either untrained or barely trained (unless specifically given where they learned the ability, powers not included). Your character will progress as the story goes on

Biography: Note that this is not required but recommended, if none is given I may need to make one for the character if the story asks for it

Relations with Current Characters: This does not mean you can be in a romantic relationship with the characters (though you CAN have previous ones), but you can put down romantic interests. If you wish to have a family relationship with any exsisting characters, please ask the creator of that character first (if you ask me I can tell you who they are)

How you Wish to be Found: May change if it doesn't fit with plot. Leave it blank for a random entrance.

**A few more things:**

**Because I am in the middle of writing my other story, I am planning on posting every OTHER Friday for the most part. This will make the next postdate April 2****nd****. Character cut offs will be the Monday before posting (midnight). Characters received after will be put in the next post. **

**Storyline initially covers the two teams: X-Men and Brotherhood. All new characters will be introduced the very next chapter after sign-up. **

**To avoid character crowding, every chapter I will say how many more characters I am taking and character slots are filled by first-come-first-served. Right now I am accepting the first four entries.**

**I hope you have fun with this, I know I will!**

**THE ONE AND ONLY DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MUCH OF THE FOLLOWING IN THIS STORY INCLUDING ANYTHING MARVEL-MADE. I JUST USE THEM FOR UNPROFITABLE FUN.**


	2. Chapter 1: Running

_To Choose A Side_

Chapter One

Running

There was nowhere to hide, and her gasping breaths began to create sharp pains in her chest. Sarah Coles, a mutant, was being chased by people she didn't know.

At first, she thought they were policemen trying to arrest her for stealing food. If that were the case, she would have let them; at least there was food in prison. When they started to raise large, strange looking guns, she knew something was wrong. She booked it out of the crowded Saturday-market place, throwing herself into a group of people so they couldn't shoot. The twenty-one year old woman kept running, not looking back to see if they were following. When her chest started to hurt, she knew she had to stop at some point.

Taking a break, she leaned against the stone wall of one of the bakeries, and took deep breaths. She glanced over the corner slightly, trying to see if she can find them—she couldn't. Blue-gray eyes darting in every direction, searching for where they could be, she had no idea that there were some coming from the other direction. A shot ran out, and she yelped in pain, grabbing her arm. Without thinking, she ran again, but her concentration was off because of the throbbing.

Accidently, she slams full force into a tall, stalky man. He turned, irritated, but noticed her condition. The man looked strange, wearing red sunglasses, even though it was a cloudy day in New York, New York. Before she could run off again, he gently took the uninjured shoulder.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks. She couldn't answer, but looks behind her. He follows her gaze, and sees the men in suits. Understanding, he pulled the woman aside so they couldn't see her. "Jean, we have to go!"

A red-headed woman turned her head and saw him hold the girl. Discreetly, they moved away from the crowd; and just as they broke away, Sarah's world faded to black.

Professor Xavier waited knowingly for Scott and Jean to arrive at the mansion. Once they did, they rushed the unconscious woman to the medbay in the subbasement. Jean began to work on her shoulder, where the bullet was embedded.

"What happened?" Professor X asked the other man. Scott Summers, or Cyclops, shook his head.

"I'm not sure…but she was being chased by people. At first I thought they were just mutant protesters, but they wore suits and some had strange guns I haven't seen before." Xavier nodded, deep in thought. Jean Grey continued to work on her, ignoring the conversation as she focused her telekinetic abilities to pull the bullet out as cleanly as possible. Once it was out, she began to stitch her up after she stopped the bleeding.

"This must have something to do with the new bill for mutant registering they are trying to pass…but why would they attack?" Professor X wondered aloud, and Scott couldn't answer him. After confirming the woman would survive, Professor X told Jean to call for him if she awakes, and begins to roll out of the room. Scott follows, and the two silently adjourn to the professor's study.

"I have noticed there has been many attacks around this area—most of them on mutants. Many people, especially children, won't know what to do. I think it is time we become more active in our search for students, so we can keep them safe here. Rogue and I have a meeting to go to, but I want you and a team to split up and go around New York and find those who are at risk. There is a map on your watches that will lead you to some of the people I have marked from Cerebro. Let's get to them before they get there first."

...

"Alright, time to split up. Jean and I will go back to the Saturday market and look around, I'm sure those men won't leave just because they lost one. Iceman you'll go with—where did Wolverine go?" Cyclops turned his head, trying to find where the shorter and gruffer man went.

"I don't know, man. I think he was mumbling something about being on his own." Iceman crossed his arms, an irritated look about him. He wore his street clothes, along with the rest of them, since this was more of an undercover mission. Cyclops sighed.

"Will you be alright by yourself?"

"Hey, just because I'm an x-man in training doesn't mean I need a watchdog! I can take care of myself!" Iceman sassed. He actually likes Cyclops, but Iceman had just failed a test earlier, and was still coming off of the ego-fall. Cyclops shook his head and let the seventeen year old run off.

The test-session still on his mind, Iceman quietly grumbled angrily to himself as he walked around. He looked down at the watch Beast had made for the X-men (he was given one for this mission), and pressed a couple buttons to show a map. A red dot appeared, showing that he was close to one of the marked targets. He looked up and walked in that direction. Once he started to hear yelling, he quickened his pace and peered through some bushes at a girl and guy bickering. Surprising to him, he recognized the man, and was not pleased to see him.

"Just, leave me alone Pyro! I don't want to do this anymore!" a pale skinned girl told the man following her. She had caramel colored hair and pretty bright blue, electric eyes. Wearing a white tank top, over it Iceman could see a short neon red belly-shirt with a picture of a yellow jellybean.

"You can't just leave! Where are you going to go? Back to the dumpsters?" the young man shouted back, his dark blue eyes flashing. Iceman decided now was the time to make a scene, and stepped out of the bushes.

"Hey, leave the jellybean alone, John." He ordered. The girl jumped and turned to him, not realizing he was there. Pyro's eyes darted to him.

"You?" he snarled.

_Of course, the two used to be good friends, and had actually grown up together. That all changed when Pyro's powers came in and his parents disowned him when they were ten. Iceman stuck around until Pyro became convinced all humans were the same, and left. What he didn't know was that Iceman was also a mutant, but his powers didn't come in until four years later. When he had heard, he came back to apologize; but after he mentioned making the humans pay for the way they treated him, Iceman told him he could no longer be friends with him, and he would go on his own way. _

Now, here they are, face to face after that happened a year ago.

The feelings they had for each other the last time they met, were coming to surface again.

"Keep out of this, human-lover!" Pyro growled. Iceman ignored him, and turned to the girl.

"You don't have to hang out with this creep, you can come with me and I can show you a place where you're safe." He told her. Thinking about it, she looked between Pyro and Iceman. Her hesitation about the offer seemed to piss Pyro off more.

"What is there to think about? You belong to The Brotherhood! You don't belong with them!"

"And who are you to say where I belong?" she snapped. "I don't agree with you, or Magneto's vision! I'm leaving!"

With that, she stepped to Iceman, who merely smirked at Pyro before leading her back to the pick-up point.

"Traitor!" Pyro yelled after her, and ran off in the opposite direction, back to the brotherhood base.

...

"Tell meh again, professor. Why on Earth would ya take me instead'a Storm?" Rogue asked the professor, as they both approached a nice looking two-story house. She was wearing layers: a tank top under a long-sleeve turtleneck sweater, a pair of skinny jeans, and a pair of black gloves she wore. Anna Marie, or Rogue, was unable to touch others because of her ability. If she were, their very life-force would be taken from them. To prevent this from happening, she wore long clothing that covered her pale skin. Her accent was thickly southern, having grown up in Mississippi.

"The girl we are here to visit is very uncomfortable with the state of her mutation. She has the ability to control nature, and when her mutation activated, her hair and arms have changed as well. Her grandmother tells me she refuses to leave the backyard, feeling rejected since her father kicked her out. I feel as though she would connect with you better than anybody else right now." He explained. She nodded slowly in understanding.

They reached the door and Rogue knocked three times. The grandmother cracked the door open, but after seeing the two opened it all the way.

"Oh, it's just you! Thank you so much for coming to visit! Ever since those people tried taking my Rowena away, I've been very cautious!" the lady moved to the side to allow them to enter. She was a sweet and plump looking woman, with silver-like hair and kind gray eyes.

"People?" Rogue questioned, and the grandmother nodded as she shut the door.

"Oh yes…Rowena and I were at the grocery store, picking up some apples, when all of a sudden these men in suits tried to snatch her up! Luckily we got away, and I was able to get her home where they couldn't find us. Ever since then, though, she hasn't left the backyard!" she leads them to the kitchen, where a sliding glass door led to the yard. They could see a girl sitting in the center, strange green hair flowing to her shoulders. She wore a strapless dress, revealing light green markings of leafs and vines running down her shoulders to her wrists.

"Ms. Madison, why don't you and I talk in the living room while Rogue talks to Rowena. She can relate to what she is going through." Professor X suggested, and the grandmother nodded and the two left the room. Rogue took a deep breath, and slid open the door, closing it behind her.

The girl didn't turn, or move in the slightest, as Rogue walked forward a bit. Feeling nervous, Rogue kept her distance.

"So..uhm..ya like nature?" she asked, trying to strike up conversation. Rowena's head turns slightly to the right, just enough for Rogue to see her cheek.

"Yes. It doesn't discriminate."

"Ah see…that makes some sense…ah know it's hard ta live in a world that don't understand you…" Rogue takes another breath and walks to Rowena, sitting down next to her, but still a short distance away to give her breathing room. She notices that Rowena had the same kind, gray eyes as her grandmother, but they looked distant. Rogue looked off too, trying to think of what to say.

"Ya know, down in Mississippi, when ah got upset wit' my parents or somethin', there weren't a lota places I could go…ah didn't have a lota friends at the time…so, I would hop on down to the river, an' for some reason it'd make me feel better. Ah could never explain it."

"The water calms people because it's in constant motion. We feel as if our troubling thoughts move with the water, and eventually just disappear." Rowena explains. Rogue thinks about this, and nods.

"Yeah, that sums up the feeling alright. Bu', eventually, ah had to face mah problems again. It was definitely hard at first, an' so many times ah just wanted ta crawl under a rock an' never be seen again! In the end though, I'm glad ah found where I belonged…"

Rowena looked up at her in wonder. "You're a mutant though, aren't you? How could you belong anywhere?"

Rogue turned to her and smiled.

"Well darn, the X-men are all mutant, and they're also mah family. Ev'ryone at the x-mansion are so kind an' understandin'…probably because we all haveta go through the same things…yet, somehow, it's easier to deal with it all together instead'a bein' alone."

Rowena nodded, understanding, and looked down at her lap. "I wish I had a place like that…my grandmother makes me feel accepted, but if I go anywhere…I just…"

"Feel alone?" Rogue answered, and she nodded. "Well girly, there is a whole population that feels like you, an' is stickin' up for you. If ya want, you can come on up to the mansion wit' us. You can visit your grandma whenever ya like, bu' at least this way you're with people who won't judge ya…and we can even teach ya about those fancy nature skills o' yours!"

Not answering at first, Rogue wondered if she would accept. Finally, Rowena nodded, and told her she wanted to go with. Rogue grinned and the two stood up, going inside to meet up with the professor. While Rowena hugged her grandmother and informed her the decision she made, the professor gave Rogue a congratulatory grin.

About thirty minutes later, the girl was completely packed, and they climbed onto the small jet. As they flew away, Rowena looked one last time at what used to be her home for the past four years. Down below, her grandmother was still waving, a tear in her eye.

* * *

Juleanne "Jules" Starr wandered around a small park in New York, kicking pebbles and trying to _not_ think. She had no place to be, and just walked along the grass, not following the path. Many who looked at her would think she was a woman—but the girl's appearance was misleading, for she was only fifteen. With a troubled mind, she looked brooding and cold from a distance.

While walking, she heard a strange, whimpering sound. Thinking it to be an injured animal, she investigates. She finds another girl, perhaps a few years older than her, but not by much. The barely-adult woman muttered curses under her breath, kneeling at the side of a small pond while wiping her tears away. Not wanting to get involved, Jules started to turn away, until a strange movement in the water caught her eye. The water was rippling in strange patterns that obviously weren't natural. She stepped a little closer, and noticed that the woman held her hand out a little, making movements that coincided with the ripples.

Jules knew she wasn't the only mutant, especially having come across one early in life, but she for some reason never expected to come across one. When shifting her weight, she accidently snaps a twig, causing the woman to look up with a startled look. She's about to run, but something made Jules come forward and tell her to stop. Obeying, the woman looked at her with a peculiar expression.

"Aren't you going to turn me in, or somefing?" she asked, having a harsh, Polish accent. Jules shook her head.

"If I did that, I might as well turn myself in too." Jules walked into the small clearing so the woman could see her fully. They examined each other. Jules had black hair, and her eyes were currently a light orange (her eyes change colors frequently). She had a punkish/band member kind of style of clothing; including a leather jacket, cargo pants, fingerless gloves and skinny jeans adorned with a chain belt. The other girl had short, wavy brown hair and big green eyes. Her clothing was attractive and form-fitting, her t-shirt and jeans defining her curvy hips.

"You are a mutant as well?" the woman asked, and Jules nodded. She thought about this, and decided that she could be trusted. "My name is Kaja, what is yours?"

"Jules. So, you can manipulate water, right?" Kaja nodded.

"What do you do?"

"I can manipulate gravity and the cosmos."

"Oh yeah? Show me." Kaja demanded, still unconvinced that she was telling the truth. Jules raised an eyebrow, but nevertheless showed her. She focused on the space around her, and when the gravity was removed, she slowly began to lift into the air. Kaja's jaw drops, but closes after Jules lands on the ground again. "So you are telling fa truf!"

That accent…Jules is by no means racist, and carries a little accent herself since she was born in London, but Kaja's accent couldn't help but make her grin the tiniest bit.

"Some powers you both have there." A voice said from behind a tree. Kaja jumped and turned around; Jules looked just beyond her to see a blue-skinned woman stroll by. Jules became defensive, taking a ready-to-fight stance.

"You…you are a mutant too?" Kaja asked. The woman nodded.

"My name is Mystique. I help a man get back at those who have hurt us—like those _homosapians_." She hissed the word, making the hair on the younger girls' necks stand on edge.

"What do you mean?" Mystique stood a little distance away from them, standing with her weight on her left leg and hands behind her back; showing them she meant no harm.

"Tell me, what kind of lives do you come from? What happened after the humans found out you were a mutant?" she answered with a question. The two young women looked at each other.

"My parents disapproved and disowned me…" Kaja murmured. Knowingly, Mystique nodded, and turned to Jules expectantly.

"I'm not obliged to tell you _anything_ about me," she snapped. Mystique shrugged, not going further. Shifting her weight to her other leg, she stared the girls down.

"These people are scared of us because we are different. They believe we are a threat: so they will do anything to exterminate us. If we band together, they can't harm us."

They stood silently, until finally Kaja nodded and stepped towards Mystique. Jules questioned her, but Kaja shook her head.

"She's choosing survival." Mystique told her. "You are free to join us. But if you don't, you make yourself an enemy."

"Think this through, Jules; what do you think will happen if they do start making us register, like all the other mutants?"

She honestly hadn't thought about that. The mutant registration was far from her mind, but now that there were so many pro-registration groups, it was clear that it was likely to happen. At that point, all mutants would be forced to register, instead of volunteering to. If you didn't—well, they would force you too. With a sigh, Jules nodded, and they walked away, mere minutes before a group of suited men trudged by the pond.

...

The building looked similar to an American DMV. Martin Trujillo, with a depressed appearance, sat at the end of a row of chairs. Few people were in the room, some more obviously mutant than others (like the woman with tentacles for hair). To think he was one of them. Only two years ago his mother would hug him and kiss his forehead before he would leave for school in Harlingen, Texas. However, when they found out about his abilities, she claimed him a demon and tried to kill him. He then found his way to New York, trying to find acceptance. Since then, he has found none. Giving up, he is here, at the mutant registration office.

The noise of the door caused him to look up, and a strangely dressed man walked in. He wore a dorky looking gray helmet with a cape to match. Hearing a scream, Martin looked as the woman behind the counter ran to a back room and locked herself in there. Feeling he should fear this man, Martin stood up and was about to try and sneakily get pass him. The man grabbed his shoulder, and Martin was just about to deck the man when a strange force made his hand stop. He wore a watch on his right wrist, which tugged at his arm, making it impossible to move his forearm. Stunned, he backed away, and the tugging sensation was released.

The man grinned at the boy. "You are going to want to hear what I have to say, young man." Then he turned to the rest of the room.

"Sure you can register like the humans want, and when the time comes for them to exile us or kill us, make it easier for them to find you. Once they have you in their lists, it is not a simple case of changing your name, dying your hair and moving away. No, no, they have a chip implanted in you, so at any time they wish they will take you away. People, they are trying to get rid of us, and you have become too tired or blind to see it. I understand your frustrations and depressions. Doing this only ensures your destruction. Join me, join us and band together, so we can rise and crush them! We are the next chain of evolution!" his voice raises with each sentence, until his words could be heard throughout the entire building.

The few people around them didn't budge, but just stared with vacant eyes. Martin however, stared at him with a look of inspiration. As this strange man took his exit, Martin ran outside and followed him.

"Wait!" he caught up with him and another man who was wearing a black fabric with steel armor-plating outfit and a gray-tinted partially transparent helmet that stopped just below his eyes. They turn to face him. "I want to join you!"

The elder smirked as he looked the boy up and down. "And what can you do?" he asked.

It took Martin a minute to realize he meant power wise. Thinking quickly, he looked down at a nearby fire hydrant, and stretched his hand towards it—palm-up. Without even touching it, the inanimate object sprouted legs and silly looking eyes and ran away. People walking close to them screamed in horror and ran. Before causing more trouble, Martin faced his hand toward the hydrant again, and the legs vanished and the eyes shut and disappeared.

The man was laughing, along with his escort.

"I see, you may join us, little Upriser." The man chuckled. Martin grinned at this new nickname, and almost skipped along with them.

"Hold on, I don't think I caught your name…what was it again?" Martin asked carefully, not really knowing how to speak to this authority-figure.

"Magneto."

**A/N: I realize this chapter is late and I deeply apologize, I've been fighting with my computer since Thursday. Finally, we agreed it was time to give you guys this chapter, for you guys deserve it! I have one character slot left for the next chapter, not including those who have already sent in their characters. BUT if you do end up sending in a character and it doesn't make deadline, I can still take them and put them in a later chapter. Next postdate is set for the 16****th****! After I finish my other stories, this one will then take priority, and the intervals between chapters will become one week instead of two! Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 2: Introductions Aplenty

_To Choose A Side_

Chapter 2

Introductions Aplenty

"This way," Mystique purred. The two ladies following her gave each other curious-filled glances. They traveled by taxi (where Mystique took the form of the taxi driver to drive them) all the way to Salem Center, where on the very edge of the city were huge boulders. Easily, Mystique moved her way around and over the boulders to reach a small cave opening—completely invisible to anyone traveling this far from the path. It was very dark in this cave, but when they entered, Mystique pressed some sort of panel hidden in the rocks that illuminated a never-ending path above. Walking under the lighted path, the following women could feel apprehension seizing them, though on the outside they seemed perfectly calm.

"Welcome…to the Mutant Sanctuary." Turning, Mystique revealed the vast structure of tunnels and chambers. The women couldn't believe their eyes, for all these structures had to have been carved by hand into a marvelous achievement. "I must tell our leader that you are here. Feel free to look around; we will designate your rooms later tonight."

As she walked away, the women stood there momentarily—unsure of what to do.

"Well…let's go see what there is to offer." Jules muttered to her new companion. She starts forward, making Kaja jog to keep up. Ahead of them was a chamber that looked much like a family room in a regular home—only it was underground and instead of pastel wallpaper, there was solid and sturdy tan-colored rock. In this chamber were two people. One of which you've seen before: Martin Trujillo. The other was another young man, only a year older than Kaja. He looked bored, while the younger man beside him was jabbering on about something he didn't care about. As the two stepped closer, the man's eyes darted to them and he stood rather quickly.

"More recruits, huh?" he asked lazily, a thick southern accent rolling off his tongue. Martin looked up at who he was speaking to, and stood also.

"Hello! My name is Mar—" he was interrupted by the other male.

"Ah told you, we don't go by our slave names he'e!" he shouted, tempted to slap the annoying kid across the back of the head.

Jules regarded the two quickly. The older one had messy, dirty blond hair that hung over his glazed-over hazel eyes with a bored look. He had a slight tan and wore an old sports jersey from a team she didn't recognize and skinny jeans. Looking to the other one, he was rather plain looking and had curly, short, dark brown hair that framed his round cheeks. The only interesting scene about the kid was his piercing black eyes, which at the moment was looking at the other male with narrowed eyes. The blond saw this, and chuckled to himself—not out of humor but interest.

"See somethin' you like?" he asked with a bite to his tone. Her always-changing eyes changed their focus to him, right now with a pale orange stare.

"I have to make sure you aren't going to kill us the first chance you get." She nearly growled, but her tone came off as barely civil. The man shrugged and sat down, lounging in the comfy armchair.

"Name's Alchemist. This here is Upriser." He told them.

The boy glared at him now. "I told you I didn't like that name…"

"Too bad, so sad, that's the name you were given by Magneto."

"Alchemist, Upriser, and Magneto…what fa Hell kinda names are fose?" Kaja asked, an eyebrow arched. The man called Alchemist just looked at the girl with a weird expression, but didn't say anything. Martin (or now called Upriser) wasn't as discreet, and his mouth was gaped as he stared at the girl.

"What kind of accent is that?" he asked her. Kaja stared him down, until he sat down because of the force of her stare. Under different circumstances, Jules might have burst out laughing.

"I was told the new recruits would be here." A gruff sounding voice echoed in the cavern, and they turned to an entry way to see the man Upriser had met earlier. "I'll be helping you all through your training."

"Training?" Jules repeated quietly, but still loud enough for the man to hear.

"Yes. We don't want any of you dying on us now do we?" he chuckled to himself, then straightened a bit. "You are to call me Avalanche, and the names given to you by birth are now null and void. Alchemist and Upriser already have their names."

Avalanche looked to the women expectedly. They first looked at each other then told him what they could do. Nodding with satisfaction, he gave them their names: Cosmos and Ripple.

"Listen here: we don't like sending in noobs to battle, so we train hard until we're satisfied you know your stuff. Most powers have about four levels of experience—Untrained, Adept, Advanced, and Mastered. It ain't hard to get to that fourth level, so we're going to ride your asses until you get there."

In each person's head they imagined a boot camp of some sort, and everyone but Alchemist was having second thoughts—the man in the jersey however, liked getting pumped.

The man lead them down the tunnel he just came from and up some stone steps, passing many entries to rooms such as the kitchen and dining room. Up the stairs and down to the far side of the tunnel, they found a huge room with lots of weight-lifting and exercise equipment to one side. On another, was just a plain, wrestling mat. Without thinking, Upriser walked into the room, only to duck so a huge dragonfly didn't knock him over. The dragonfly flew to avoid him, then vanished into colorful sparkles. Avalanche glared across the room.

"Hey, Angellore, front and center!" he called. A young woman stood up, her wavy hazel-blond hair cascaded pass her shoulders. She had a beautiful face, lit up by honey-brown eyes. Even in the dimly lit cavern, her fair skin seemed to glow. Wearing a dark blue skirt and light blue sweater, a beret of a matching dark blue sat on her head comfortably. She walked up and stopped a foot away from them with a blank, innocent expression.

"Je suis désolé, monsieur, je n'avais que la formation." She said with a sweet voice, speaking French. Avalanche shook his head.

"You know I don't know what you're saying tuts. You're in America, speak American dammit." He told her. Looking at him with a raised eyebrow, she repeated herself in English, a French accent still resonating in her voice.

"I said: I'm sorry, sir, I was only training." She decided against telling him 'American' isn't a language.

"Good." He then turned to the rest of them. "Now that all of you know where this is, I want everyone to be here at six A.M—sharp. No excuses."

"You're such a hard ass." A muffled and gurgled voice shouted. The six began to notice the ground shake as a man who looked to be over 500 pounds. Avalanche took no heed to the insult, waving his hand.

"Just take the kids to their rooms, Blob." He ordered. The man grumbled something incoherently, then turned back around slowly, now with the five young mutants following. He led them up another flight of steps to a hallway that had curtains hanging from every doorway. It took a while for him to remember which rooms went to who, eventually he took the three girls and showed them the room on the left, while the two guys the room on the right, closest to the stairs.

"Don't get any ideas!" he barked, before nearly rolling down the steps again.

* * *

The 22-year old woman opened her eyes slowly, her vision blurred at first. Once it began to clear, Sarah looked to the sides to try and gather her bearings. The room she was in looked almost like a futuristic version of a hospital, strange machines and items she had never seen before lining the counters and walls.

"How ya feeling, bub?" a rough-sounding voice asked. Startled, she nearly fell out of the bed she lay on, and searched frantically for the voice she heard. Her sights land on a short man, who had strange hair and wore a tank-top and jeans. He walked toward her, still waiting for an answer. Remembering before, she looked down at her shoulder; it was now stitched and only stung compared to the piercing pain from before.

"Better…why am I here? Is this a hospital?" she asked. The man shook his head.

"No, you're just in a medbay. You got hurt and ran into a couple friends, and they brought you here." He explained. A sound of an automatic door could be heard, and the red-head she noticed before walked to her side.

"I'm glad to see you're awake! How's your arm?" she asked softly. Still feeling weary, she only nodded. Understanding, Jean grinned. "Well, you have a clean-bill of health, and you're free to go. But before you leave, someone would like to speak to you first."

The door opened again, and Sarah could hear wheels…

"Hello there, Sarah." A man in a wheelchair rolled himself next to her and Jean. Sarah greeted him only by nodding. "I understand you must be frightened, but you are safe here. Those men that chased you cannot find you.

The mention of the men made her hair stand on end. If they knew about them, they would know about her…so…

"You're mutants?" she guessed. Professor X nodded.

"Yes, and this is where many of our kind go when they need help. I'm hoping you will stay with us—at least until we can find out why those men were attacking you."

Sarah had to think about this, but eventually she accepted. After having her arm bandaged up again, the rough looking man named Wolverine, took her with him on a tour. He explained that she could go anywhere in the mansion (except other people's rooms without permission, of course), and showed her the subbasement, main floor and second floor. After, he brought her back to the main floor to the foyer, where a few others were.

Among them was the girl Iceman picked up (not in that way) in the park. She called herself Ivy, and was talking to Rowena, who called herself EarthShaker. The two knew each other for only a short time, but there shared ability to manipulate nature made the two feel like sisters. Next to them was a group of three: a sixteen year old girl named Mar, another girl a year older than her named Becca, and a man in his mid-twenties called Mik. She was introduced to all five, who each had different reactions to the stranger.

"Alright gang, we will start training tomorrow, so be ready at the Danger Room at six o'clock. Mar and Becca: you two are sharing a room with Sarah, so make sure to take her with you. The rest of you know where your rooms are. You all should get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

**A/N: OKAY…I know…not the best chapter and the introductions really sucked. But do not fear! Every character will have a time to shine, don't worry. I'm just getting the major names out there for now and then I will work on character building next week.**

**What'd I say? Next week? That's right! New chapter releases are now every Friday! I know where my faults were with this chapter, but if you guys notice any other places where I need to improve, give me a holler (NICELY!). **

**OH! One more thing..I have one more available character slot for chapter 3! After that, I only have one more for chapter 4 and that will be all the new characters for a while!**


	4. Chapter 3: 6 AM Training

_To Choose A Side_

Chapter 3

6 A.M Training

Many in the Brotherhood weren't actually morning people, but those who had been there longer had gotten used to waking up for 6 A.M training; or at least, they were supposed to.

Jules, or now known as Cosmos, came down into the training room with a scowl on her face and still wearing comfy clothing. In London with her family, she was used to sleeping in for the most part. While certain events made her more accustomed to the morning, she still considered six o'clock to be more nighttime than morning.

To almost everyone's surprise, Alchemist was already wide-awake and ready to go. The thrill of training was one of the only things he's willing to wake up early for. Upriser was awake as well, though not as chirpy as his buddy. Sitting on the cold, rock floor of the training room, he struggled to stay awake.

Angellore was the eighteen year old young lady found by Magneto's own daughter, the Scarlet Witch. The Scarlet Witch normally didn't talk to others, but seeing her make fantasy beings struck her interest. She brought her here, where instead of her birth name: Angela Moore, she was given the codename Angellore. The reasoning was unclear, for it could either be a simple combination of first and last name or her first name combined with the word 'lore', and which one was the initial reason I guess we'll never know. Awake like Alchemist, a light was apparent in her eyes, though she looked almost unresponsive at a glance.

To join them, Magneto's twin children would train alongside them: Quicksilver and (of course) the Scarlet Witch). The two were complete opposites: him a teenage boy who wanted to cause trouble, her a teenage girl who would rather be left alone. They stood together and talked quietly, until Avalanche (who had been there before them all) walked toward the boy and informed of his father's summons. With a sigh of annoyance, the teen used his quick speed to rush to his father's chamber, leaving his sister by herself. Angellore hadn't really spoken to the Scarlet Witch after her admission to the Brotherhood—so when she was finally detached from her counterpart, she took the chance to inch over and start hesitant conversation.

Finally, the Polish eighteen year old Ripple, ran down the stairs in a hurry. Unused to waking at such an early time, she had accidently slept in longer than she intended. Though the girls she shared the room with did try to wake her, the girl's exhausting day left her unable to wake. Luckily, her foot stepped through the door frame just before the clock hit 6:01 A.M. Avalanche looked at the clock and then back to Ripple.

"You're lucky. Tomorrow you may not be as lucky." He spoke with a growl. She mumbled her apologies, which he simply nodded his acknowledgment before speaking to the rest of the group.

"This morning will be simple, since we are expecting a couple more newcomers. I just need to catalogue abilities and push the limits of what you have control of. Line up, and I'll go one by one." They lined up easily, Upriser and Ripple bickering slightly about who would go first. Grunting, Alchemist stepped pass both of them, and stood at the front of the line. Once they stopped rustling around, the assessment began.

Striding forward until his feet landed on a blue mat that was placed for today, Alchemist smirked at Avalanche with a cocky smile on his face. Avalanche stood at the edge of the blue mat, giving him room to show them what he could do.

Alchemist focused his powers into his hands, facing his palms at the center of the blue mat. Concentrating with little beads of sweat forming on his forehead, he moved his calloused hands, as if spinning clay on a pottery wheel. He stepped down from the mat as it began to slip from underneath him, and Avalanche nearly tripped as his feet slid. The blue mat twisted at the middle—normally an impossibility from the material it's made of but his power made it seem almost elastic. As it twisted, it rose and even sprouted at the top to create a flower-looking shape. Proud of his work, Alchemist lowered his hands and grinned at Avalanche. With narrowed eyes, Avalanche looked from the now mutilated mat to the grinning 19-year-old.

"Impressive. Now, put it back the way it was originally." He ordered. Alchemist frowned. He's never had to revert what he had done before. Regardless, he liked a challenge, and raised his palms back to the mat. Sweat began to pour a little more profusely now, as he struggled to reverse the new elasticity he had to give the mat to create the shape. Unfortunately, he wasn't really sure how to remove those elements to return its regular stiff shape, and in the process of trying to make it happen ended up collapsing in a huddled blue mess. Growling with irritation and anger, Alchemist walked back to the wall and leaned against it with his arms crossed.

Avalanche walked toward the now deformed beyond repaired mat and made a tsking noise. "It's fine Alchemist; we have multiple of these things for this reason."

The mat took about five minutes to move and another five minutes to put its replacement down. Up next was Upriser.

Like Alchemist, he faced his hand toward the now mangled mat on the other side of the room, and it began to sprout legs and grow eyes. Nodding with approval, Avalanche walked over to the new made-animate object. The eyes were shaky and looked up at the man with fear, and tried to work it's feet to stand up, but the awkward shape wouldn't let it move.

"Eyes and legs. A good start. Now give it a mouth."

"A mouth?" Upriser clarified nervously. Avalanche nodded; following his commands, he focused his power to create a mouth on the already hideous looking creature. A mouth began to grow, though it took place above the eyes. When fully grown, it seemed to procure vocal cords as well—a definite downside to the experiment. The recently created monster began to scream in agony, the high pitch scream causing everyone in the room to clasp their hands over their ears. Avalanche yelled for him to remove the mouth again. Panicking, he tried, though only the legs and eyes vanished. Tell me, if you were the creature though, and you lost sense of sight and ability to move—what would you do? I would probably scream louder. Which is just what the object did. Desperately, Avalanche threw his fist into the mouth to muffle the screams, only to have it sink its formed teeth into his skin. Shouting profanities, Avalanche picked the object up and threw it to the other side of the room. Refusing to die, the screaming continued, until Avalanche clutched his hands together and smacked the floor with his fists. An immense crack ran through the room, splitting it in two, but circled the creature until the Earth beneath it fell apart. In the depths of Hell is probably where it fell: or for those more scientific, the core of the Earth. Wherever, its screams could no longer be heard. Panting, Avalanche glared at the boy. He cowered, mumbling his apologies and walking back to the line.

Rubbing his temples, nursing a forming headache, Avalanche called Cosmos to the stage.

She placed two fingers to each temple to help her focus, standing straight and limbs tucked to balance her center. Concentrating on the space around her, she began removing the gravity around her. With gravity removed, her body began to be lifted slowly off the ground. Upriser whistled his amusement.

"You can fly?" he asked excitedly.

"No, I can just remove the gravity around me." She explained, her fingers coming away from her temples as she enjoyed the blissful sensation of airlessness.

"Interesting. Can you do two people at the same time?" Avalanche questioned.

"I don't see why not." She located two fingers to her temples again, now focusing on the surrounding area around Avalanche. Consequently, in trying to shift the gravity around him, she became momentarily negligent to the gravity around her. The gravity surrounding her returned at full blast, causing her to fall back to the ground. With an "oof!" she landed on her ass, causing the cold Alchemist to burst out laughing. Cosmos glared at him, but was helped up by Ripple. Avalanche chuckled.

"Yes, you always have to keep tabs with every place your power is projected. Next." he called. Next up was Ripple, who was shaking nervously as the grumbling Cosmos passed her.

"I uh…need water for mine to work…" she explained. His eyebrow raised and he nodded, thinking to himself on how to solve the issue. An idea sparking, he walked over to the gym fridge that held many water bottles, and picked one. He threw it to her, where she barely caught it in both hands.

"Keep a water bottle with you. When danger comes around, it won't seem suspicious and you'll be a surprise attack." Ripple nodded and opened the water bottle. She moved her hand to the tip of the bottle and the water rushed out, flowing around the room as it would in the ocean or river. Avalanche walked under the stream. When she wasn't looking, he reached his hand up to touch the water. As soon as he did, the entire stream fell apart and splashed down on all under it: which just happened to be everyone. Everyone but Ripple sputtered and tried wiping their drenched clothes. Confused, she also started murmuring her apologies, and walked back to the line.

The last was Angellore, reassured by Scarlet Witch. Gulping loudly, she walked onto the slippery mat and waited for Avalanche. He had already seen her ability, so he cut to the chase.

"You can only create things for a short amount of time, and they aren't fully solid. Let's test both of these. I want you to try and hold it for seven minutes, and focus on making the image solid." He told her.

After being told what to do, she closes her eyes and lifts her arms slowly. In front of them, the beauty was astonishing, even for those who are stone-hearted. Sparkles of every color imaginable seemed to float down as a form began to take place in front of them. The colorful mist shaped into a small dragon. Angellore's eyes were still shut tightly to the point where tears formed at the corners.

"You can do it, Angellore!" Scarlet Witch shouted out the encouragement. Her head fell back slightly as her entire body began to tense from trying to keep the dragon there. The dragon's wings molded and even flapped twice.

"Almost there, try making it form completely." Avalanche urged. She began to whine as pain started to creep up her limbs to her core, where her ability was originating. The dragon began to recede against her wishes, until the last particles glittered and fell to the floor, vanishing before hitting the ground. Angellore collapsed with lack of energy—Scarlet Witch and Alchemist moved quickly forward to grab her.

"That's enough for now. With the assessment I'll be able to create a more formidable plan. Until then, you are free to do whatever you like. Keep in mind, until your abilities have strengthened, it is not at all wise to leave the Sanctuary." Their teacher told them, and with that they were dismissed.

….

"You wanted to see me, father?" Quicksilver asked, barely cracking the door enough for him to see into Magneto's study.

"Yes, come in." Magneto called. Opening the door all the way, Quicksilver shut the door behind him and in a flash appeared in front of his desk. "We have two recruits I wish for you to show Avalanche for assessment."

He waved his hand to show off two young women.

The first had straight, caramel-colored hair that ran just to her shoulders. Her eyes were a dark, forest-green that darkened her face in contrast to the pale skin, with only the slightest sign of freckles under her eyes giving away some kindness. Wearing jeans with a simple, white blouse, what Quicksilver fount to be peculiar was her studded earrings and thick combat boots.

"This is Ghost," Magneto introduced her. She nodded her greeting.

The second had a darker shade of brown hair than the other woman, her blue eyes lighting up her face. She too wore jeans, and her shirt read "I make geek look good". Both women were both taller than the average eighteen-year-old woman.

"—and this is Elemental Tiger." He continued. She also nodded in greeting. Quicksilver grinned handsomely.

"Well it would be my pleasure to uh, show these beautiful ladies around!" he said, making Elemental Tiger giggle as Ghost rolled her eyes.

"Just get on and show them where they will be staying—make sure that they see Avalanche before settling in as well."

"I'm on it!" Quicksilver saluted, then offered his arm to both ladies. Elemental Tiger gladly took it, but Ghost gave him a cold look and walked in front of them.

* * *

At the Xavier Institute just before six a.m., those who would be training with 'The Wolverine' was already awake and getting ready to go downstairs. In Mar, Becca, and Sarah's room, they bustled around while trying not to brush elbows with their fellow roommates. The friendship between the three of them still new, they preferred to keep their distance and not make accidental issues.

Mik had a room to himself. Which also meant that no one were to wake him up. Ivy and EarthShaker were already good friends by now, their common love for nature bonding them. They were just about to join the other three girls in the hallway when EarthShaker stopped and realized someone was missing. She knocked on Mik's door to no answer. Walking in, she squealed as the half-naked Mik was on top of his sheets. The noise interrupted his sleep, and he sat up quickly to see the sixteen-year-old. Both blushed furiously as Mik fell out of his bed, trying to cover himself. EarthShaker watched purely out of confounded embarrassment, and had to be dragged away by a giggling Ivy.

In the danger room, Mik had arrived a little late and was still blushing, only to be greeted by a still-giggling group of girls.

"Glad you decided to join us, Mik." Wolverine chuckled, already aware of the situation in the bedroom. He nodded and took his place in the line of girls. "We're going to have a test of everyone's abilities today, just so I know what everyone needs to work on."

Mik was made to go first. No one knew about his abilities, and watched eagerly. He walked forward and at first faced Wolverine, then surprisingly turned to face the girls. With a comforting smile, his eyes fixed on Sarah. Their eyes met, though Mik's became unfocused and blurred. Then he frowned.

"Sarah, why are you sad?" he asked with a sympathetic look on his face. Wolverine huffed.

"Right, you're the empath. I always seem to forget. Let's see if you can change her emotion."

"Do you mind?" Mik asked worriedly, and Sarah shrugged.

"So long as you don't make me kill anyone." She told him. Nodding with a slight smile, Mik focused on the aura around her. He tried to make the aura a bright green, but couldn't change it from the dull blue. Sighing, a look of disappointment crossed his face. Wolverine but a comforting hand on his shoulder, assuring him they would work on it. Nodding, Mik walked back to the line.

Sarah walked forward next and before even reaching the imaginary 'judgment' circle, she had turned completely invisible. Wolverine grinned.

"I can remember a few times I wished I had that ability." He joked, though his gruff voice made it almost seem like he was serious—which he very well could have been. "This ability is pretty self-explanatory, and while it doesn't seem like you can do much to improve it, you actually can. What we will try to work on is making other items invisible as well, and maybe even other people."

She nodded, though none of them could see it. Revealing herself once more, she walked to the rest of the group.

Becca trudged forward, her entire demeanor not the happiest of them all. She closed her eyes momentarily and began to float up into the air.

"Flying—also self-explanatory. I understand that's not all though?" he asked, and she shook her head. When she started flying forward and picking up speed, to everyone's shock, Wolverine ran after her and jumped into the air and slashed at her. Again, to their astonishment, he slammed into her and fell straight to the ground; no damage was done to her and she landed safely, unlike Wolverine. He laughed a little as he stood back up, his healing factor kicking in.

"Mobile invulnerability. Useful. This only works when in the air though?" he questioned her. She nods. "Then we will try to apply that power on the ground as well."

Becca walked away to let Ivy and EarthShaker forward. The two decided that with the similar abilities, they could combine their powers to create strong powers. Wolverine waited as the girls focused. EarthShaker's tattoos began to glow a bright green, and Ivy's electric blue eyes shined brighter. Ten feet below the danger room was the soil, where the girls mentally planted an energy sprout. Growing quickly, the sprout pushed the soil away like any tree would, roots whipping out wildly. Before long, the sprout grew a trunk that pierced the pure steel flooring, ivy leaves wrapping around the trunk and forming branches. Made of energy, the tree was very solid, and glowed a pure green.

Wolverine grinned at the tree, but shook his head. "Beast is gonna hate you girls for messing up his danger room again."

"You two can combine your powers, that's obvious. The process though, is still long. In battle it would be about a minute too long. We'll have to work on speeding it up and making more than trees." He told them, sending them back to the line. Finally, the youngest walked over.

Mar was a little nervous, thinking to herself that everyone's powers were so much better than hers. Wolverine encouraged her to show them. Taking a breath, she looked up at the ceiling, where the LED lights were. Squinting almost, she focused on them. At first unnoticeable, they waited patiently; soon, it became apparent that the room was getting brighter. In fact, the room became so bright that they had to shield their eyes. Seconds after, the lights burst, sending them into darkness. Apologizing, Mar then turned on lights to a surveillance room just above them, giving them some light.

"Light manipulation is nifty, especially when you get to the different wave-spectrums." He watched her worriedly as she pinched her nose, a headache developing. "We will first have to work on decreasing the effects it has on you to use it."

She shuffled back, and the group was complete. Wolverine walked in front of them, carefully in the dim light, to give them the final results.

"We have quite a few things to work on. They may not seem major, but it is important to be able to handle your abilities. We will all also be working on removing the emotional bond to your powers. When you have a hissy fit, the last thing we want is someone to die because of it. You all did good, and still have the rest of the day ahead of you. Go have fun, and we will meet back to begin the training process."

With murmured good byes and thanks, the group dispersed.

**A/N: Made it in time! Barely, but made it all the same! Okay, so I have ONE MORE CHARACTER SLOT! And that's it for a long long time! Please though, consider making a male! If you haven't noticed, almost all OC's except for three are male…that makes for a lot of girl trouble! So this was actually supposed to be what happened the entire day, but the assessments ran really, really long so I decided to break it down into two chapters instead. Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated!**


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